Been a while since you’ve visited vinyl record stores? Even if you’re a digital music devotee, there’s some magical about stepping inside vinyl record stores. It’s like a time machine…

In the last six months, I’ve moved into a beautiful walk-up apartment on the north side of Kansas City, Mo. Since moving here, I’ve got to rekindle my love affair with vinyl, DIY, and all things thrifty because (1) I live alone, which means I can get crafty where ever, and whenever, I please;  and (2) my dear dad finally fixed his (now my) 1969 Garrard record player. This second fact pleases me so much because I am a vinyl lover. And now, since my vintage record player is in working condition, I have started collecting records like crazy from various  vinyl record stores.

Luckily, Kansas City and its surrounding cities have some pretty rad record stores with great selections that local vinyl addicts can salivate over. One such record store is Love Garden Sounds in Lawrence, Kan., a quirky, college town that I had the pleasure of living in for eight years. Lawrence is about 40 minutes away from KC, so visiting is easy.

Love Garden Sounds is located on Massachusetts Street in the city’s eclectic downtown district. The record store opened in 1990 and is still going strong. Just this last year, the store celebrated its 24th anniversary with Woods, and a handful of amazing local artists.

Kelly Corcoran currently owns the store (Corcoran bought it in 2004), but started shopping there in 1994. According to an article in Pitch, Corcoran has loved watching how the store has evolved over the years.

Since the store moved to its new, first-floor location in 2009 (it used to be in a second-floor, walk-up space, on the same street), the store started to carry more vinyl. Currently, the store buys and sells records, CDs, tapes, and equipment.

While Love Garden Sounds only has one location, Corcoran says the store sells a good amount of merch that the owner has seen people wear around the country. Now, that’s some love!

Since getting my trusty record player up-and-running again, I’ve purchased some pretty stellar, previously loved titles from the store:

• “Al Green’s Greatest Hits, volume 2,” Al Green $8
• “She’s So Unusual,” Cyndi Lauper, $4
• “Rainbow Bridge,” Jimi Hendrix $5
• “The Best of Bill Withers,” Bill Withers, $6
• “Rides Again,” James Gang, $4

• “Somewhere in Time,” Iron Maiden $20 (valuable record)

• “Music to be Murdered by,” Alfred Hitchcock $2-6
• “No Dice,” Badfinger $18 (valuable record)
• “Some Girls,” the Rolling Stones $5

Look at those prices!

This is by no means a comprehensive list of what I’ve scored from this awesome shop, but it pretty much encapsulates my musical influences.

I’m headed to Lawrence again this weekend, and you can be sure that this vinyl lover will hit up the Garden.

Related on EcoSalon

Whole Foods Market Goes Retro: Vinyl LPs for Sale (But are They Organic?)

Vinyl Fetish? The Music Never Stops

Versatile Vinyl: the Sound of Reuse

Top image: Thomas, other images: Abbie Stutzer

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LA shows the love for local designers, artists and makers of food.

This past weekend, local makers of food, fashion and art gathered at The California Market Center in LA for Unique LA’s Local Love event — the largest independent design show in the country. As a relatively new East Coast transplant, I welcomed the opportunity to meet and mingle with designers and makers on my new home-turf. The products at the show were all made in the U.S., so all the dollars spent during the weekend went straight towards stimulating LA’s design economy.

There was plenty of love-themed merchandise on display, perhaps because this was the perfect opportunity to buy a last-minute Valentine’s gift. We particularly liked the LA Love tees by MNKR and the sweet linen heart coin purses by Yellow Wallpaper.

Of course there were lots of cute tees and onesies for the little ones, emblazoned with everything from squirrels, whales and hearts, like at Jasper Wren, to LA-centric statements like the “I live and cry in LA” onesie from Kira.

The first thing that caught my eye when I entered the space (perhaps because it was right by the entrance door) was a tipi, surrounded by pillows, towels, book ends and coasters adorned with lovely graphic prints, all handmade in LA by Wolfum.

My nose directed me to my next favorite — coconut wax candles by Queen Bee’s Hive, scented with spa-grade essential oils. Topanga Candle Company uses vintage vessels such as tins, food containers and film canisters to hand pour the wax into, a creative way to give these objects a new life. You can even bring in your own vessel and they will make it into a candle for you.

Another company that creatively reuses our old stuff is My T-shirt Pillow who, as the name suggests, takes old tees and makes them into cozy pillows. I also loved the recycled cashmere scarves, made from thrifted sweaters, by Creature Cashmere and Stella Neptune.

There was a ton of great jewelry on display — some of my favorite were an action-provoking necklace in black letters by MNKR, a poetic banner necklace with butterflies by Fruition, message necklaces by Solstice LTD, recycled metal pieces by Tiffany Kunz, bold color and ceramic pieces by Kyyote, and pendant necklaces by Love Nail Tree (that camera is for all you bloggers out there).

For the boys — and the girls who steal their clothing — there were bow ties in all sorts of colors and materials by Pocket Square Clothing and wood eyewear by Sire’s Crown. And a new favorite, Hepp’s White Truffle Salt is something I can’t live without.

I was thrilled to see the kind of creativity and high level of design that comes out of Los Angeles. Shopping locally means that you are directly supporting this industry of small-scale designers. They are often the ones who push the envelope and give us the unexpected. That is something we need to cherish and of course, show the love to.

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